Greatest Guitar Riffs
- TV Mini Series
- 2023
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Riffing it Up
A rather oddly peopled mini-series on identified major purveyors of electric guitar-riffs in rock music. I'm presuming more episodes will follow the three I've seen so far, which have focused on Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Andy Summers of The Police and Nancy Wilson of Heart.
Of the three, I think Iommi, although I'm no metal fan and am unfamiliar with the music of his band, has the strongest claim for inclusion based on my perception of his status and reputation in the business. I'm a much bigger fan of Summers' playing and am well acquainted with the music of his band but I'd argue that as he was never given a writing credit on any of the group's biggest hits, I'd have thought that the memorable riffs to say, "Roxanne" or "Every Breatb You Take" were actually Sting's creations. Ms Wilson's band were certainly successful in the mid-80's but I wouldn't ordinarily consider their music or her playing to be innovative or cutting edge, although that of course is just my point of view.
That said, the three programmes are all watchable even if it's obvious that each participant is required to talk themselves up a bit for the camera. They all show they can still play today and as a bonus, it was cool, for example, to see Sir Brian May join Iommi for a brief jam session while paying his respects and George Benson and Summers mutually appreciating one another.
Every show features admiring talking-head contributions from often the same little band of fellow musicians, mostly from more recent groups of which I know next to nothing, although many of these go off on tangents to talk about other musicians with no seeming connection to the featured artist.
Yes, the programme would work better if it featured heavyweights like Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, Angus Young or even Brian May himself but I really didn't mind these more eclectic choices being featured, I mean who knew that a contemporary ballet teacher was creating a piece around the music of Black Sabbath.
So, while the programmes are a little glossy, self-congratulatory and light in content, rock music fans, especially of the slightly heavier variety, will probably enjoy this series, just as i hope there might be a few more episodes to come.
Of the three, I think Iommi, although I'm no metal fan and am unfamiliar with the music of his band, has the strongest claim for inclusion based on my perception of his status and reputation in the business. I'm a much bigger fan of Summers' playing and am well acquainted with the music of his band but I'd argue that as he was never given a writing credit on any of the group's biggest hits, I'd have thought that the memorable riffs to say, "Roxanne" or "Every Breatb You Take" were actually Sting's creations. Ms Wilson's band were certainly successful in the mid-80's but I wouldn't ordinarily consider their music or her playing to be innovative or cutting edge, although that of course is just my point of view.
That said, the three programmes are all watchable even if it's obvious that each participant is required to talk themselves up a bit for the camera. They all show they can still play today and as a bonus, it was cool, for example, to see Sir Brian May join Iommi for a brief jam session while paying his respects and George Benson and Summers mutually appreciating one another.
Every show features admiring talking-head contributions from often the same little band of fellow musicians, mostly from more recent groups of which I know next to nothing, although many of these go off on tangents to talk about other musicians with no seeming connection to the featured artist.
Yes, the programme would work better if it featured heavyweights like Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, Angus Young or even Brian May himself but I really didn't mind these more eclectic choices being featured, I mean who knew that a contemporary ballet teacher was creating a piece around the music of Black Sabbath.
So, while the programmes are a little glossy, self-congratulatory and light in content, rock music fans, especially of the slightly heavier variety, will probably enjoy this series, just as i hope there might be a few more episodes to come.
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- Lejink
- Feb 6, 2024
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